The Los Angeles Times takes a possibly premature look at development along the Expo Line--the darn thing hasn't even opened yet. But basically, the Times says offices, condos, apartments, and retail haven't exactly sprouted along the Downtown-to-Culver City rail line (it took many years, over a decade in some cases, for the subway to bear development fruit in Koreatown and Hollywood). One exception is the Blackwelder office complex near the La Cienega station, where tenants apparently value the proximity to rapid transit. The Culver City terminus of phase one (expected to open around January) has lots of available space for development--the mayor "envisions apartments, a hotel, offices, shops and underground parking" but for now it'll be a parking lot. All those lofty plans for the area are not really moving currently, but the vicinity certainly could use a developer's TLC as right now warehouses and defunct car dealerships sit next to the elevated station.
Dan Rosenfeld is in charge of development issues for County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas--the politician fighting hard for the sort of-approved rail station in Leimert Park Village and the unsuccessful undergrounding of part of the Crenshaw Line--and Rosenfeld sees big potential with Expo's Crenshaw station, which will be adjacent (or maybe above) the terminus of the Crenshaw Blvd. line. He envisions a dramatic facility on a truss above the stations, describing it with quite possibly the transpo quote of the year: "It would mark Crenshaw as a significant station and transfer point to the airport," he says. "You could be like Titus returning to Rome." Pictured: Rome, er the southeast corner of Crenshaw and Exposition
· Development Lacking Along Expo Line [LA Times]
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